I release a breath. I can’t blame her for the curiosity. Even for me, this was a blunt break.
“There was a mix up with the realtor for Nan’s. She was also helping us find property for the store front and when I asked her to reach out to Vince, she thought it was for the same thing. Noah didn’t know, and signed the paperwork to buy it. We fought about it, and I realized he wasn’t going to give in—that he was choosing what was best for Flourish over us.”Over me.
Kara’s face is pinched in a frown. “Oh.”
“And then, with Nan, I didn’t—don’t—have it in me to try and figure it out.”
It’s true that I don’t have it in me. I can’t stomach the thought of seeing him right now. It hurts too much when I think about his betrayal. Even though logically I know it wasn’t fully his fault. I also hate myself for being with him, fighting with him, when Nan needed me most. I’m sure, like my grief, the complicated anger will fade; the edges will dull and become more of a throb. But under that still sharp prick of pain is a quiet thrum, a knowledge that if given the chance I might be able to forgive him.
Someday.
“So, it’s over? Forever?”
I chew on my lip. As much as the idea of being with Noah scared me at first, the idea of it being over forever is equally asterrifying. The irony is almost enough to make me laugh. Who’d have thought I’d be this broken up over a man?
“I think we’d have a lot to work through before it could be anything other than over, and after the things I said . . .” My stomach twists again thinking about the way I equated his hesitation in the heat of the moment with his father’s crimes. “I don’t have any business thinking about it being anything else.”
Kara makes a face, like she wants to argue, but she doesn’t. Instead, she shifts her line of questioning.
“Do you think he’s still going through with it? Renovating Nan’s?”
“I don’t see why he wouldn’t. It really is a great location for the company. And he owns it now.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
Her question is the same one I’ve been picking at over the last week. Nan’s letter set me free from the diner, but I still have plenty saved, not to mention the money she left for me. For the first time in my life I have total and complete freedom to do anything I want—no obligations to anyone else and no reason to hold myself back.
“I’ve been thinking about Costa Rica a lot. Nan told me she wanted us to have a drink for her, and I can’t think of a better place to do that. Care to join me? Nan’s treat.”
Kara balks. “A fully paid vacation? Hell yeah.”
Birds are chirping outside my open window when I wake the morning of our trip, summer peaking out from behind the gray clouds. I pull myself out of bed, slow and relaxed. Our flight isn’t until noon, and I’m mostly packed.
I decided to check a bag because Kara talked me into the adventure package, so I’m prepared for anything from trekking up a volcano to lounging poolside with a drink in my hand. It took us nearly two weeks to plan the damn thing, but it’s finally here. Two full weeks in Costa Rica. I don’t think I’ve ever been more relaxed or excited in my life.
Once out of the shower, I dress in my most comfortable shorts and a racerback tank—and because airports are notoriously chilly, I tie a thin sweatshirt around my waist.
Kara is also up, sipping coffee out of her lizard mug. “Morning,” she chimes.
“Good morning. You packed?”
“Yep! And all of our important paperwork—tickets, passports, and itineraries are all gathered and set by the door.”
“Look at you.”
She shrugs. “This is a once in a lifetime trip. Not something you want to blunder because of paperwork.”
I laugh at the painful irony. Blundering with paperwork is a new fear.
“No. Indeed it is not.”
Settling into the seat across from her, I scroll on my phone and sip my coffee. “Mmm, did you send Henrietta a copy of our itinerary?”
“Yep. Laminated and posted on her fridge.”
“Good.”
“Have you thought anymore about what you’re going to do when we get back?”
